Fireflies
by dragonsliquor
Summary: His voice was drifting on the wind, as he stated he wanted to descend down into the water below. He said he had enough of this, and if he could have one wish is that at least one person remember his name.
1. Chapter 1

The warmth of the bus was overwhelming; the children seemed to think that opening the windows was the best solution. Their heads stuck out as they tried to find sweet relief from the summer's heat. It was around mid-June, though it had not reached its peak of heat, it was a rather hot day especially for the children who had spent around two hours on a cramped up bus.

Though there were few that were actually sitting down they probably saw that it wasn't worth their time attempting to fight the others for space near the wondows. Their bodies scrunched up over whatever object or device that had attracted their attention.

Now our attention is drawn to one boy particular. His body scrunched all around his video game device, which has yet to be confiscated. When seeing him play you would notice his fingers were rather long, though that could be said about the rest of his body. He was a rather lanky fellow, though that didn't mean he was tall in fact he was one of the shortest of his age group. At the same time though, he wasn't the shortest person, though we will not get into the details who was the shortest and tallest, (at least not right now).

If we look in more detail of what he looked like the first thing you would notice would be the paper 3D glasses that were pressed against his face, after seeing this you would notice the slightly upturned nose that gave his face a bit of a scrunched up look. As your eyes descend more downwards you would notice his teeth that pressed against his lip, no doubt later on he would require braces to help align his teeth to a more proper position. When you inspect closely you would then notice his skin, it wasn't fair as most teens his age would hope, but rather unclean looking though not to the extreme. Then the final touch his hair was cut the usual short manner, his fathers thinking it would be best to go a bit short since the summer heat could become unbearable.

Now one would ask why a boy of around fifteen would want to go to summer camp. The thing was he didn't want to go; in fact he absolutely loathed the whole idea. He had absolutely no say in the decision and was forced to go due to the fact his fathers saw him more indoors (more) than out. That and they found he may open up for once and actually start talking to people his age other than having his face shoved in the computer.

Camp Gl'bgolyb seemed a perfect fix for their issue, so with a quick pack and a good tugging at a very unwilling teen later, Sollux was on his way to what he thought was the worst way to spend his summer vacation.  
So here he was, shoved in a hot bus stuck with some kid who constantly hit him with his elbow each time there was a bump on the road. When the whole ordeal stopped he was met with someone saying a small apology as he looked down at Sollux. Sollux said a whatever before returning to his video game, attempting to give this kid a cold shoulder.

"What are you playin'," he moved to tap his shoulder in attempt to make Sollux move so he could see.  
"Quiet down you idiot, if they know I have this they'll take it," he seemed to have quite a lisp there. Often his tongue would slip from his mouth as he pronounced anything with the s sound, it was a habit he had tried to break and failed.  
"Just let me see."  
"No"  
"Come on, I promise I won't tell," his voice raised loud enough to get the attention of the adult figure as he peeked back in hopes to know what was going on. Sollux was quick to raise his head and moved to show the boy his screen before making it disappear out of site again.  
"There now you saw it, not shut up and leave me alone."

This seemed to encourage the boy behind him to quiet down his voice not raising again. He just sort of stared at Sollux before he finally moved to dig in his bag. After shifting some things he finally got what he was looking for, a Polaroid camera. After messing with it a bit he waited for the perfect moment when the ride was the smoothest and took a picture of Sollux, causing an involuntary twitch from Sollux in reaction to the flash.  
With a small thump the boy was sitting down and taking the photo that slid out along with a marker he brought for this occasion and started writing a little note on the back before shoving all items back into his bag for safe keeping.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry, I will try an look over it again later. Also I will attempt to write another chapter tonight, I apologize for not turning this over last night, but I was not finished with it. I hope you enjoy.**

Finally the ride was over, the children and teens soon released from their prison and allowed into the fresh air. A few were quick to lift their large bags filled with clothes and sunscreen, and such that the parents found would be useful, and head over to the camp center where the camp counselor was herding them.

He was going about the usual spew of welcome and telling the newer people the rules, the others that had been to summer camp several times ignored him and talked amongst themselves. Sollux didn't listen, his attention brought towards the lake in the distance, far away he could see a small dock though he couldn't really see much detail, though beyond that something seemed to drift and catch his attention, tugging him towards the lake.

"And those are the rules," was the words that drew his attention back, his finger moving to slide his glasses back on his nose sniffling. "Any questions before we start giving you a tour?" He asked, a few hands rose to his question, though most lowered after a second.

"Are we going to be able to swim in the lake?" One boy asked his head turning to the water.

"Yes, though we have to make sure to practice safety, no one is allowed to go into the lake unless they have a buddy with them. Also we would prefer you to stay away from the water at night unless supervised. Oh, by the way would like to repeat absolutely no one is allowed to go over to the other side of the lake. It's where the camp used to reside, but now we

don't use that area and we would prefer you won't walk over there. There may be snakes and we would prefer you not to put your lives in danger. Now if we may move along I would like to show you where you will be staying." The group followed without a word, sort of just trusting him. "Now you will be broken up into threes and placed in your cabins, of course girls will be with girls and boys with boys. Also each of you will be separated by age ." He grumbled something under his breath frowning, it sounded like he said for reasons. "Now the cabins are right along this path here, yes it is in the woods but don't be afraid there hasn't been a bear attack for four years, nor any major injuries . " He gestured towards the were made of wood and the sides had a light coating of moss I looks kind of homey, at least it didn't look too old, and the windows were relatively clean.

There was a small flash suddenly drew Sollux's attention, with a jerk he turned his head only to let out a sigh of relief to find it was just someone taking a picture.

With a quick motion the consular took a look at the clipboard handed to him by another counselor, who was female. They had said their names earlier but Sollux couldn't quite remember. His mind was elsewhere before so of course he had already forgotten the duos names.

"Now we will separate you into your cabins when your name and cabin is assigned please move there swiftly. At twelve we will have lunch," with that he began reading the names on the list.

By the time Sollux's name was called he was the last in the cabin, cabin two. The other two boys seemed to look at each other as they were told to go to their cabin and get comfortable.

Just looking at all of them made Sollux felt uncomfortable already. He looked away not wanting to look at any of them. If he avoided contact maybe he wouldn't have to engage into conversation, which is what he thought

"So we are going to be stuck together for the whole summer?" A boy with a bit of an athletic build, though still rather thin and dark skinned, stated. The Sunglasses that were on his face covering his eyes was making Sollux a bit uneasy, sort of like he was judging his every movement..

"Seems like it," the boy on the other side of him piped up as he passed him and entered the cabin. He looked around nodding. "Though I can get used to this, a comfortable place an no parents, what could a kid ask for?" The darker skinned boy didn't reply not wishing to engage in small talk right now as he already started to put his stuff down and started to unpack.

"Electricity," Sollux commented bluntly as he pushed passed the boy, said boy flinched at the slight touch sort of stepping away before rolling his eyes.

"Well someone isn't very observant, if you didn't notice we do have electricity, see above there are light bulbs, also outlets. So we do indeed have electricity. Though enough fawnin' over the power sources. My name is Eridan, and both of your names are?."

"Equius," stated the taller more athletic looking male," and I will inform you that if you do break any of the rules here I will take it upon myself to inform the consolers. I do not wish to get in trouble or indulge myself in any inappropriate behavior." Eridan made a face, before he gestured towards Sollux with his head as he started to unpack.  
"An you are? Or am I gonna have to call you 3D face for the whole summer." He asked as he moved to sit down on the bed.  
"Sollux." He found an outlet where he could charge his rechargeable batteries and not be seen if someone walked into the room. Sollux's fingers moved to go and slip his portable game station inside the pillowcase, then moved to go and start unpacking more stuff. Though paused at what he saw at the bottom of the bag. He sort of moved to slide the bag under the bed as discreetly as he could. "It's not pronounced with a t-h, so don't even think about pronouncing it wrongly."  
"Oh I wasn't," he shook his head smirking. Around this time someone on a microphone yelling it was time for lunch. With that they were soon off for food.


	3. Chapter 3

**Another chapter left unedited. I will have this chapter inspected later but I could not bring myself to wait any longer on publishing this chapter. **

The rest of the day passed without much, mostly it was showing the children where everything was. Though the eldest of the eldest took their time to tell the kids of all the hiding places and cool places, from caves to special trees which they caved into with knives they slipped into the bark to use later. They weaved their lies of monsters and such that had lived in the woods, though the children reassured by the counselors that there was nothing to fear.

Eridan drank these stories up like it was the oxygen that kept him living his excitement of doing this whole thing growing. He had never really gone to summer camp before and only seen what happened In them from movies. His mother had slipped his camera into his bag despite his refusal to take it in fear of it breaking. Though now he was eternity grateful for the object, now he could record his memories for his easily troubled mother. Maybe even send photos every day and inform her; what happened at the camp and who he met and talked to.

Which is what he was doing right now, it was past dinner time and the overhead light was much darker then he anticipated, but it was enough to light the paper that he had written on. He promised himself that he would give the counselors the letter in the morning just in case something happened that night. Though he was a bit reluctant not too big on adults, they made him nervous.

He could feel their eyes on them looking down at his short stature, since he was currently the second from shortest at camp, which made him rather tense and uneasy. Just the thought of them looming over him made him sick to his stomach.

He coughed a bit as he started to feel a bit queasy, but refused to allow himself to show his uneasiness as he glanced at his cabin mates. They were doing their own thing, Sollux playing his game with a bored expression, only really moving if a bug flew too close to his face. Equius was on his bed reading through one of the few books he was allowed to bring along with him. Flipping very slowly through the pages, it was a very uneventful group, but he couldn't ask for better cabin mates.

Eridan drew his attention back to the letter that has yet to be fully sealed. He had gathered a few of the photos he had written little things on at what was happening and who or what was in the photo, and placed them into the folded letter and finally sealed it before finishing up.

When he did so he moved to set the letter on the small nightstand that was provided to no doubt hold a few things between the campers, mostly it consisted of a lantern and a drawer, which Eridan had claimed earlier before dinner time so he could place his letters and photos in. The other two had no protest as long as he didn't make a big deal of it. So there they went, tucked carefully under a book which he brought himself. It was a book about world history; he had found it about to be thrown away due to its condition and Eridan swiped it before they could.

He had read those pages and reread them again attempting to remember everything and everywhere things happened and how they happened. He even attempted to study up on what the battle plans were. Eridan loved military tactics and always wanted to join the Marine Corps, just the thought excited him. He had limited access on the computer and all and wasn't really allowed to even touch a computer unless his father was looking over his shoulder every second, so he didn't know much about them. Also he wasn't even allowed to learn anything besides what his private tutor taught him. He was his father's heir to his company so he was expected to know certain things more than others, and his brother already proved that he wasn't going to lead so the responsibility was dropped on Eridan rather quickly. His father fearing he would go and join his brother and his outrageous behavior he made sure that he only knew the path he set out for him.

Right about then was the time where a sound was emitted alerting everyone that it was bed time. Everyone one by one turned off the light for their cabins as they finished up what they were doing. Equius was quick to finish up his page before carefully moving to pick up the bookmark. Sollux moved to go and turn off his game with a heavy sigh and shove it under the pillow. Eridan was quick to move to grab the nightlight from his bag and plug it in, though it wasn't that bright it was bright enough to give off a eerie glow. He smiled a bit and moved to go under the covers and close his eyes when he got comfortable. Eridan was near sleep when he heard a grunt coming from Sollux.

"Can you remove that nightlight?" Eridan twitched moving to raise his head some and look at it.

"It's not hurtin anyone it's just a bit of light."

"Well it's keeping me up so turn it off."

"Can I please keep it on?"

"No, it's better off. It will attract mosquitos and other bugs and I'm already half eaten alive."

Can I just have it tonight? I promise to turn it off tomorrow, just please let me have it on tonight." Eridan practically begged.

"What are you, five? Are you afraid of the dark or the boogeyman? That he's going to get you? " Sollux seemed a bit irritable, maybe even a bit harsh.

"No, I'm not scared of anything! You're just bitchin because of a tiny light; if mother were here then I wouldn't have to deal with this. An if my father was here he would know how to shut your mouth. Though since it looks like neither of them are here I'm stuck with you and your complaining. Fine, I'll turn off the damn light." He said switching the light off nearly breaking the small nightlight. Equius was first to speak.

"Don't use that language here or in my presence ever. I don't care what kind of family you were brought up by, but you have no right to use such language."

"I wwill use wwhatevver language I wwant." Eridan said in a huff moving to go and grab the covers and shove them over his head slightly embarrassed about the release of the stutter of his w's and v's.

"We don't care as long as you shut up." Eridan kept quiet after had shifted and sank under the covers, and Equius seemed to have already fallen asleep. His snores loud, but wasn't too much of a disturbance for Sollux's sleep.

It was minutes, or maybe a half hour and it was Sollux's turn to be awoken. It wasn't by crying, oh no. It was this silent sort of hiccupping noise with a bit of hyperventilating. Sollux opened his eyes to see Eridan placing his hand over his own mouth as he started coughing. His body shaking and his head rolling forward as his mouth opened a little wider. Sollux knew exactly what was happening and was quick to his feet. He made his way toward so he could placed his hand on Eridan's back and urged him off the bed.

"Come on, get up we're going outside." He said as he led him outside. When they reached outside Eridan proceeded to throw up on the grass and mud right next to their cabin. He wiped at his nose and eyes with his arms as he tried to control himself.

"Shit, you okay?" He asked his nose scrunching up as he looked around for one of the adults but absolutely no one was awake by now it seemed so he had no one to talk to about it. Though Equius seemed to have been awaken by all the commotion because he popped his head out looking at both o f them.

"Is there a reason you two are outside past curfew?" Sollux pushed his 'glasses' up on his nose and shook his head.

"Eridan threw up, he may be sick." Sollux said, but Eridan grabbed Sollux's shirt tugging at it.  
"I'm fine, I promise you I'm fine."  
"You sound pretty shitty to me, and you're in no condition to say you're alright. You just threw up."  
"It happens all the time don't worry about. It's nothin new to me, I just forgot to take some medicine." He said with a curt nod before moving to go and stand up and walk towards the cabin. Sollux reached for Eridan to check if he was sure if he was okay but Eridan seemed to have moved maybe three feet away just to avoid his touch, so he let his arm lay there limp after he missed the opportunity to grab his shoulder.


End file.
